Inspiring personal change from within

Monthly Archives: November 2012

“Try not to be a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.” A. Einstein

Following the highly inspirational day with Sabian Muhammad from Enterprise Lab, talking at the 80 Young People now participating at the NCS programme, I’ve been moved to share with You this article about How to develop an entrepreneurial mind.

(Click on the mind map for the enlarged picture)

What do all great entrepreneurs have in common?

What do Tony Robbins, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Sir Ken Robinson have in common? and What strategy do they use? If I started the day with these questions, surely after Seiban talk I came back with all the answers. Great Entrepreneurs have a set of procedures that, consciously or unconsciously are following all the time. A set of procedure that make the Entrepreneurial Mind. A Great Entrepreneur is Inspired: entrepreneurs are moved from a vision, a vision that comes from creating a solution to people’s challenges and needs. A vision in constant expansion, a global scale vision. They understand people’s needs and challenges and use their creativity, skills and talents to create the World they would Love to leave to their future generations. Great Entrepreneurs have a strong belief in themselves, their vision and their capabilities; a belief telling them that Everything is Possible, that failure is just another learning opportunity that will allow them to improve.

“I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” T. Edison

mmm… interesting.. and so, what is the strategy that Great Entrepreneurs use to have such a big impact on people’s life?

Wise question! I’ve been introduced to this model by Seiban. And this is the model that every entrepreneur has to bear in mind every time the “creative bulb” starts lightening. The Model is called ISBA. ISBA stands for, Issue, Solutions, Barriers, Actions.

ISBA…. well… and How can I practically use ISBA?

Hold on!! ahaha!! I see awakening the Entrepreneur within You!!

Now I’m going to briefly talk through each section, spotting the key points of each step.

1. Issue

The first step is to identify the Issue, the problem that You want to solve. Ask Yourself these questions:

What is that You really care about?

What do You Love in Life?

What do You really care about?

What is the main change You would like to see in Your community, society, World?

If You were to see Yourself 70 Years from now, What would You like people to remember You for? What impact have You left in Your society?

What is that moves You and excite You to the point to dedicate Your Life to It?

dig deeper… This is part of Your Life Purpose.

For Example, My Purpose is to support children, youths and adults connecting with themselves, find the Purpose they have lost, creating the Happy Life they deserve to Live.

Answer those questions and then move to step 2.

2. Solutions

After having identified what challenge You want to see solved, that moves You to the point where You see is Your mission in Life to solve it, it is time to brainstorm all the possible solutions. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers at this stage, just ideas. The Ideas will flow and tap into Your creative self. Everything is possible if You believe so.

Answer now the following questions:

What can You do to solve this challenge?

What else can You do? (ask this one several times until You feel exhausted!)

What have other people, who faced the same challenge, done in the past? What can You take from Their experience?

If You have all the resources (money, time, support) You need, what would You do?

What would Your role model do to solve the challenge?

Move now to step 3.

3.Barriers

In this phase You are going to take a deep look into what is really stopping You achieving it. The internal and external obstacles You have found, You find and You might find. The resources that You need and the support that is missing. What You really need also in terms of Knowledge and skills.

Ask Yourself:

What obstacles might come up on the way?

What obstacles I’m facing now?

What do I need that I don’t have? (support, knowledge, skills..)

and now, after a detailed look You can move to the last phase.

4.Actions

Now You have the opportunity to plan the tasks to overcome every obstacle and eventually create the reality You were aiming for. It doesn’t have to be a massive action, but a small, daily improvement will lead You beyond Your best expectations. Also You might want to think How You are going to move through, Who is going to do those or support You, and When You are going to do those.

Remember: “A Goal is a dream with a date.”

Now it is time for questions!!

What are You committed to do to overcome every obstacle?

What sets of actions will build Your action plan?

What are the actions that will bring You the biggest expected results?

How are You going to do each of those actions?

Who is going to do those actions or support You?

When are You committed to do those?

WWow!!! This is Mindblowing!!!! BOOOMM!!! I love it!!

A special Thanks to Enterprise Lab to be so inspiring and for sharing this valuable tool!

I decided to attach to each post a mind map, so, if You don’t want to read it entirely, You’ll have the chance to know the key point of every post!

What do You think about it?

I’m looking forward Your feedbacks!!

I’d love to hear from You and what do You think about the article.

Please Like this post if you found value here and share your awesome thoughts in the comments below.

What does it mean?

It means that You have always, at all time, the resources within You to face every situation in the best way You can. Can You remember a moment where You acted under Your standards? A moment where You feeling down and even brushing Your teeth seemed an harsh? Can You remember a moment, on the other hand, were You had a great idea? Or a moment that You were You did something that You thought was impossible for You? What was the difference? It wasn’t another person!!! It was the state You were in that affected Your performances.

…mmm… If state affect performances, what does affect our state?

Great question!! It is the quality of Our Emotions that effect our State. Our state is the direct result of the Emotion we are feeling in every given moment. Managing Our emotions, we can affect our state and then managing our Life. I’ll tell You more about emotions in the following posts because this is a huge topic by himself! Is it Ok?

Ok!!! I’m really curious about it!! And then, If Emotions change the State I’m in and the State I’m in affect my Life, How can I change my Emotions and my State?

Ahhh…. Getting curious eh?Very Good question! There different tools and ways to change our Emotional State. Some of them come from ancient spiritual practices while others come from modern technologies and psychologies.

I’m going to share with You what I found most useful and effective for myself after years of experience. I’ve learned most of the process from Anthony Robbins. In his 4 days seminar Unleash the Power from Within, he condition the audience to achieve a peak state through all the first day.

I’m going now to brake down this model for You, so You can have immediate results in changing Your Emotional State.

Are You ready??

Yes!!!

1. AWARENESS

First of all You must be aware of the state You are in. Remember, You are not Your State! You can decide to associate with it if it is a positive and empowering state or dissociate if it is a negative state. If You say “I’m depressed”, You are associating Your Identity with a feeling that is not You, and You start believing that is true. If You, on the other hand say: “I feel down”, You are acknowledging that this is just how You feel. Feel Your feelings in that moment and be aware of what is the message behind that feeling. Once You have the awareness You can, then, create the change towards the State You desire.

2. PHYSIOLOGY

Emotion means “Energy in Motion”. An emotion is energy stored in Your body. The body, when moving, changes his energy and changing the energy of the body You can change the energy of the emotions. Moving Your body, change Your breathing, breath deeply, look up and stand up straight. These are all changes that You can make in second. Or even better, go for a run or for a light physical activity. Light Physical activity is the best way release a stream of serotonin in our body.

3.FOCUS

Energy flows where the focus goes. When You focus on the negative You constantly attracting more negative thoughts and negative experiences. You are directing Your energy towards that direction and You are telling Your subconscious that You want to experience more of that feeling. If You, instead, focus on what is good, positive, on what You are grateful for, You telling Your subconscious to search for it, and as end result it will attract more positive experiences. Think about an happy moment, a moment of deep spiritual connection, a loving moment… How You feel?

4. LANGUAGE

“Every word You Speak and Every thought You think create Your reality” Louise Hay. How we speak and what we speak is one of the way we communicate with our subconscious mind. And, the first person we always communicate with first is ourself. Through our language and our thoughts we are the creator of our own Unique experience. Negative and disempowering language can affect our Life in the direction we don’t want to go. Positive and empowering language drives us in the direction we want.

Your Turn

What is a negative emotion You are feeling in this period of Your life?

Change Your Posture now, change the way You breath, Look up!!

Now think about an empowering moment, a successful moment, a joyful moment, a sexy moment!!

Now what can You tell to Yourself that will lead You in the direction You want to go?

WELL DONE!!

Did You Like the exercise?

I’d love to hear from You and what do You think about the article.

Please Like this post if you found value here and share your awesome thoughts in the comments below.

“What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?” Eleanor Roosvelt

Do You know what is the difference between a confident person and a person who doesn’t even look up? What is the difference between achievers and followers? What is the difference between an happy person and a sad one?

mmmm.. no.. I don’t know… maybe their attitude?

Good guess!! And what is behind the attitude of a person? Behind the attitude of a person lies the way his able to manage his state. Quoting the personal development guru Anthony Robbins “There are no unresourceful people, just unresourceful states”. Have You ever experienced a moment of light bulb? or when You were performing above Your usual standards? I’m sure You did! And this is not because You changed the skin You were in, but because You changed Your internal state, tapping into Your Resourceful Self.

So…. You are telling me that every result I can achieve depends by the State I’m in…

Bunga!!!! I’m a great believer of the TEAD theory. TEAD stands for: Thoughts, Emotions, Actions, Direction. It is an ever ending cycle.

What we thinkdetermine the way we feel; our feelings determine our performances; our performances determine our Life.

1. THOUGHTS:

It has been estimated that we have 70.000 thoughts per day. (I don’t know who decided to count them!! :)) 70% of these thoughts are almost the same, like a tape on repeat. Has been shown that, generally, these 70% of thoughts are negative and disempowering. Can You see now how much impact can thoughts have in our Life? How can we live an happy and successful life if what we thing most of the time comes from our worries and problems? Each of our thoughts has a measurable electromagnetic field and can influence the whole chemistries of our body, blood pressure, hormones and the one of the people around us. Also, our thoughts, when repeated, create strong neurological patterns that creates our habits. Sometimes we are so use to that repeating tape that we are not even aware of it. Being aware of our thoughts is the first step that we can take towards changing the limiting patterns.

2. EMOTIONS:

Every thought we experience, interact with the energetic field of our body, linking to our past experiences. Every thought. as said before, create changes in the chemistry of the body, changing the emotional state we are in. So what are emotions? Emotions can be described as “Energy in Motion”. Emotions are changes in our energetic field and are influenced by the patterns of thoughts and biochemicals released in our body. Everything we think create and generate a different emotions. Some of them can create a positive change in our field, releasing “happy hormones” like serotonin and dopamine, while others can trigger stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline. In conclusion If we think positive thoughts, we are going to trigger positive emotions.

3. ACTIONS:

Our emotions have the power to change the state we are in. State can be defined as the mental and physical attitude we have in every given situation. In which state can our action be more successful? Easy to guess!! More we are in a joyous and happy state, more resourceful we are. More we stay in a negative or depression state, less power we have. In conclusion we can say that the state we are in determine the performance of our daily actions.

4. LIFE DIRECTION:

“Show me the actions of a man and I’ll tell You his destiny”. Every action (or inaction) is a step towards one direction. Our actions and performances determine our Life direction and ultimately Our Destiny. This is why our life a reflection of our daily actions. Having in mind what is the direction we want our Life to take, we can plan our actions accordingly.

Wow!! All this is uber fascinating!! But How can I change my state?

Ahahah!!! I’m glad You enjoyed it!! And You are really curious!! So don’t miss out my next post “How to trigger a “rock n’ roll star” state”.

What is NLP? and Why everybody is talking about it?

NLP, and his intriguing concepts made me take the first steps in my personal development journey that led me to become a Life Coach.

The art of success. The art of achievement…

Who doesn’t want to be successful in Life? Who doesn’t want to achieve?

NLP tells You what is the difference between Your success or Your struggles. It tells You what is the difference that make the difference between You living the life You dream and being lived from somebody else’s plans.

“It is my belief that nearly any invented quotation, played with confidence, stands a good chance to deceive.”
~ Mark Twain, Following the Equator

Have You ever heard a sentence or a quote that was exactly what You needed to hear in that moment? Is there any constant aphorism You keep on repeating to Yourself like a mantra? If this is the case welcome to the CLUB!!

Steve, one of my mentor, always underline the importance of “feeding Your brain with the right stuff“. He constantly listen to quotes or audio that can empower him through the day. Quotations from ancient and present wisdom are one of the healthy food You can really give to Your brain.

…What is so powerful about inspiring quotations?

I believe that quotations have the great power to fit everyone’s Life situation. Every person can relate to each quote with a different meaning, the right meaning for that given moment.

mmm… but why spending time reading somebody else stuffs?

Good question! As I told You before is about feeding Your brain with Healthy thoughts. We are always listening and reading other people’s thoughts. Reading inspiring quotations means consciously choose which thought we are going to use in that moment.

interesting… but what are the benefits then?

I’ll answer quoting Brian Tracy, personal development guru, “You become what You think most of the time” . Your thoughts shape who You are. How can a person be positive if constantly thinking negative thoughts? You got it!!

what? My thoughts shapes who am I?

Yes!! Let me explain it better and follow the chain. Your thoughts shape Your emotions. Your emotions shape the state You are in. The state You a re in shape Your actions and performances. Your action and performances shape Your destiny and who You are.

That means that if change my thoughts I can change my destiny?

BINGO!!

So don’t waste time and let’s move to the Top 7 quotes that most inspired and are inspiring my Life.

Let’s get inspired!!

1.”You become what You think most of the time” Brian Tracy

What are You thinking most of the time? Are You feeding your brain with positive thoughts? Are You empowering Yourself or beating Yourself down?

2.”When was the last time You did something for the first time?” anonymous

When was the last time You did something new? Albert Einstein said that if it is more than 2 weeks You can be considered a walking dead.

3.”Whether You think You can, or You think You can’t- You are right.” Henry Ford

What do You think about Yourself? Are You telling Yourself that You can do it or not? If You think You can You increase of 150% Your possibilities to succeed.

4.“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill

What do You say to Yourself when something You do doesn’t meet your expectations? Do You see it as a failure or as a learning experience?

5.”If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Anthony Robbins

What can You do differently to change Your outcomes? Do something different to get different results!!

6. “The biggest thing standing between You and Your goal is the bullshit story You keep telling Yourself as to why You can’t achieve it”. Jordan Belfort

What story are You telling Yourself? Is it empowering You or not? Which better story can You create?

“Joy is not in things, it is in us.” R. Wagner (1813-1883)

Joy, Joy, Joy. 3 letters with a deep meaning. We live our life running towards these 3 letters. Each of our action is dictated by these 3 letters. We make plans to achieve these 3 letters. We make changes to feel these 3 letters. We Love to achieve these 3 letters.

A question, while writing is popping up in my mind…

What is really Joy?

The definitions You can find in the dictionary could be:

1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure;elation

2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated.

3. the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.

4. a state of happiness or felicity.

Now, What do these definition have in common?

Guess it…

Yes!!!

Talking about the origin of Joy we can see that Joy is an emotion, a feeling, a state.

Where is the origin of feelings?

You Got it!!

Feelings are inside our body. Mainly we are the creators of feelings.

So… You are telling me that Joy is inside me?

Well Done! Joy, like any other feelings is inside You and You can create it any time You want.

…mmm… Why then people seems to constantly look for it externally?

Great question! I would say that this happens for 2 main reasons. The first is because tapping into the inner, everlasting Joy requires a bit of self-exploration. And often people tend to avoid digging within themselves. Maybe scared about what they might find. The second is because some people don’t really know how to experience Joy and what they can do to live a Joyous Life.

Ok… Well… talking about Joy within and self-exploration sound to me a lot of Woo-Woo stuff. Is there any practical action I can take to start experiencing this state of Joy?

I understand what You mean… I had the same reaction at first. And Yes! at the end of the day Life is all about taking action! The so called Woo-Woo stuff are the actions that give the person the strengths and the mindset to follow through.

So… What can I do?

I’m going now to share with You 10 Juicy tips that can support You in living the Joyous Life You deserve.

1. Start Your day being grateful for what You have.

As soon as You wake up give thanks for all the people You have in Your life, the food, the water, Your possession… Ask Yourself the question: What is important in my life that I need to be grateful for?

2. Eat an Healthy and Balanced diet.

You are what You eat is not just an ancient proverb. Food is information and has the power to turn on and off genes and releasing hormones. Everything You eat effects You on the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual level.

3. Move Your Body

When moving and during exercise, high levels of serotonin (the happiness hormone) are released, clearing the energetic blockages where negative emotion are stored.

4. Treat Yourself like if You were the most important person on the Earth.

Self Love is a natural Joy booster!! Even if it seems a bit odd, go in front of a mirror and say out loud to Yourself all the nice things You’d like other people share about You. If You don’t have any idea start with: “I Like You”, then gradually moving to the advanced phase: “I Love You”. Do it for just 2 minutes and notice how You feel.

5. Do a random act of kindness.

Give a smile, help a stranger, donate to a charity… Giving to others without expectations makes us feel good.

6. Take time for Yourself.

Assess where You are, envision Your future, plan the action steps that will bring You there. Set aside at least 1h weekly to see where Your action are bringing You and where to adjust Your steering wheel.

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche.

This image is called the “Rubin’s cup” and it shows a big truth about the so called reality. In the image You can see either 2 faces or a cup, but You cannot see both at the same time.

…..What does it mean?….

It means that, our experiences, acquire different meanings depending from the perspective we are looking it from. Life is all about perspective. We can choose to see the 2 faces, or the cup; (a more common one) we can choose to see the glass half empty or half full.

…..So You are telling me that I can choose which meaning to give to each of my experiences?…

BINGOOOO!!!! This is it! Think about a rainy day. If You were planning a picnic with friends in a beautiful park, how do You feel about the rain? And how do You feel instead, about the rain, if You planned to spend a day relaxing at home, reading a book or watching a film? And how do You feel about the rain if You were a farmer and has been a very drought week?

….WOW!!! So… It is HOW I FEEL about something that gives the meaning to it!!!

BOOOM!!!! Yes again!! And this is a process You do it unconsciously to any given situation in Your Life. But the good news is that, having the awareness of how these stuffs work, You can consciously choose the meaning You are giving to Your reality, changing the emotional state You are in.

It sounds great!!…. But How can I do It?

The process is very simple and fun, and once You get used to it it will become automatic! I’ll guide You trough the 6 steps to change perspective!

Your Turn!!

Step 1: EXPERIENCE: Think about a moment, a situation, or a challenge that You are currently facing. See it, hear it, feel it. How is it strong in a scale from 1 to 10?

Step 2: AWARENESS: Then ask Yourself: What meaning AM I giving to this situation? How Is the meaning I’m giving to this situation serving me? What am I focusing on?

Step 3: PERSPECTIVE: If I could change the meaning of this situation, which one could I choose? Which other meaning, that will serve me better, CAN I give to this situation? What else? What else? (be creative and see how many different meaning You can give to that situation)

Step 4: CHOICE: Now choose the meaning that serve You better and start creating the new story of the event based on it.

Step 5: LESSON: Everything in Life happens for a reason. And the reason is that in any given event there is a lesson to learn for our physical, mental or spiritual development. Until we learn the lesson, other similar events will keep on recurring in our life, in order to help us fulfilling our purpose. This is the nature of KARMA. The last question is the reflection on the lesson presented in the event. Instead of asking “Why this always happen to me?” use smarter questions like: What was in it for me? What is the lesson I got to learn here? Knowing what I know now, what can I do next time? and now, be still, listen to your inner voice and pick the first world, image or sensation that comes up to You. Don’t judge it, because this Your lesson, given from Your Greatest Master.

Step 6: ASSESSMENT: Now assess Yourself about the situation asking: In a scale from 1 to 10, how strong is my feeling towards that situation? And measure Your progress from the first answer.

I’d love to hear from You and what do You think about the article.

Please Like this post if you found value here and share your awesome thoughts in the comments below.